Spain head coach Luis Enrique says he is in awe of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi

Spain manager Luis Enrique said that he is still amazed by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, ahead of his team's friendly against Portugal in Lisbon on Wednesday.

Enrique takes his side to Lisbon, as Spain face Portugal for the first time since the 2018 FIFA World Cup, where the two sides played an exhilarating 3-3 draw in the group stage.

Ronaldo scored a hat-trick in that game, with a sensational late free-kick giving David de Gea no chance in the Spain goal. That goal enabled Portugal to leave Sochi with a point that night.

Speaking at a press conference before the game in Lisbon, Enrique said that he has huge admiration for the way Ronaldo has continued to maintain his levels of consistency, despite already being 35 years old.

He has previously described Messi as the best player in the world, and the best in the history of the sport as well.

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Luis Enrique says Spain approach will not depend on Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo might not feature for Portugal in the friendly against Spain

"Our goal doesn't change aside from the fact confronting a player of his profile can be motivational," Enrique said.

"As a team, we will try to do things better than Portugal and try to cause them problems – that's the goal. Whether Ronaldo plays or not, the situation, the general approach to the game doesn't change.

"With regards to your other question, if you check through your newspaper archives, you already knew what my opinion is and I don't think it will be ideal for me again to comment on who is the best player in the world for me.

"What is worthy of praise is the fact that players like Cristiano and Leo Messi keep getting older but maintaining such a high level thanks to their professionalism, their ambition and their capacity to be motivated and keep achieving goals. Both Cristiano and Messi are examples of that."

This is the first of three games that Spain will play during the current international break, with two UEFA Nations League fixtures looming on the horizon.

Spain welcome Switzerland to Madrid, before they travel to Ukraine, in a bid to gather maximum points in their group. Spain are currently top of the group, after a 1-1 draw against Germany in Stuttgart last month, was followed by a 4-0 thrashing of Ukraine in Madrid.